manual/stick shift

[HeartbeaT91]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

First tip: Don't worry about it.

Second tip: Don't try to match the revs exactly. I prefer to think of it as playing ring toss with the accelerator pedal. When you're downshifting, the revs of the transmission are coming down, and you just want to "toss" the revs of the engine up so they catch on the transmission input.

It's like jumping Mario onto one of those elevator things in the old Donkey Kong games. Nobody sat there thinking, "The elevator is coming down at 200 pixels per second, and Mario can jump up 300 pixels, so I need to jump when the elevator is exactly 100 pixels above him." You just practice it until you get the toss right, then do it by feel after that.

So do you usually let clutch out slowly (let out fast to engagement, then let out slowly) on every rev matched downshift? That way, if you've matched a bit too low, your car won't violently jerk.

If so, how long should I hold it on engagement point before letting it out slowly?

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by HeartbeaT91

So do you usually let clutch out slowly (let out fast to engagement, then let out slowly) on every rev matched downshift? That way, if you've matched a bit too low, your car won't violently jerk.

At this point I just do it without really thinking about it. Occasionally I'll realize I missed and let it slip a little. Occasionally I'll get a little bit of a jerk, but that's usually when I missed by blipping the throttle too high.

Originally Posted by HeartbeaT91

If so, how long should I hold it on engagement point before letting it out slowly?

The answer is "long enough but not too long." You're still overthinking it, and that's causing your jerking.

You're dealing with a moving target. When you push in the clutch, the car is slowing down. Suppose you get the revs just right for right now--but you wait five seconds before letting out the clutch again. Then the revs are no longer right, because the car has slowed down too much.

When you overthink it, you delay your actions, and you'll never get them timed right. You just have to do it. Go back to Mario and the elevators. The first time you try it, maybe you jump too soon, bounce off the side and die. The next time you try it, maybe you jump too late. Or too far. Or not far enough.



Eventually you get it just right through trial and error where you just don't think about it. You don't count pixels or measure the speed of the elevator. You just do it.

So go out there and practice, screw it up, get better until it's just muscle memory.

[dori.]

Manual in NYC is fine, I do it regularly.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

At this point I just do it without really thinking about it. Occasionally I'll realize I missed and let it slip a little. Occasionally I'll get a little bit of a jerk, but that's usually when I missed by blipping the throttle too high.



The answer is "long enough but not too long." You're still overthinking it, and that's causing your jerking.

You're dealing with a moving target. When you push in the clutch, the car is slowing down. Suppose you get the revs just right for right now--but you wait five seconds before letting out the clutch again. Then the revs are no longer right, because the car has slowed down too much.

When you overthink it, you delay your actions, and you'll never get them timed right. You just have to do it. Go back to Mario and the elevators. The first time you try it, maybe you jump too soon, bounce off the side and die. The next time you try it, maybe you jump too late. Or too far. Or not far enough.



Eventually you get it just right through trial and error where you just don't think about it. You don't count pixels or measure the speed of the elevator. You just do it.

So go out there and practice, screw it up, get better until it's just muscle memory.

This post should be stickied and handed to every person that has this question!!!!!
It is damn near impossible to tell somebody how to drive in print yet Extra managed to pull it off.

[HeartbeaT91]

you guys are seriously awesome. It feels great to feel the improvement as I take your tips. The moment I stopped 'thinking' so much about starting from a stop, I stoped stalling so much. Nowadays, the only time that makes me sweat is when someones on my ass on a hill - and sometimes I stall/burn the clutch a bit doing handbrake start from slipping too long.

[krayzie]

IIRC there is actually a page or two in there that teaches you how to drive stick, and even mentions heel and toe.

[pfaffendorn]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Be good at creeping forward without gunning it.

I spend a LOT of time shifting between first-second-first.

The BRZ is my 4th manual shift, and we also have a Legacy station wagon with the 4 speed sport shift automatic from 2005. Here are a couple of notes from my experience with them in heavy stop/go traffic :

The automatic is very smooth and easy, of course. But I have more than once lapsed into daydreaming in stopped traffic and removed my foot from the brake. You can guess what happened -- the car, in gear and under idling power, drifted forward and struck the car in front of me. No damage, but very embarrassing. Maybe you wouldn't do that, but I can certainly be a flake; the BRZ is teaching me to stay alert.

I may get horrified responses to the following, but I have discovered that after the tiring first-to-second-to-first pedal dance in the manual BRZ, using only second gear gives a very smooth forward motion to the short, slow progress of stalled traffic. The lurching and hopping back and forth between first and second just goes away, and although starting out in second has to cause a little more clutch wear, it's got to be much less than all the clutching and shifting between the two gears. Give it a try!